A Tool to Facilitate Access to Discovery Across the Globe

• Pages: 30-30
• Date: 01 July 2022
• Author: Kelso L. Anderson
• Subject Matter: Civil Law

BOOK REVIEW

Early in 2020, the ABA Section of Litigation pub-

lished a timeless volume entitled Discovery Across

the Globe: Obtaining Evidence Abroad to Support

U.S. Proceedings, which explores the process for

obtaining discovery in U.S. courts from certain

foreign jurisdictions. In less than 350 pages, the editors of

this slender volume manage to marshal key legal sources and

identify critical discovery tools that will facilitate a litigator’s

desideratum for discovery in certain foreign nations.

Key Nations Identif‌ied

Of the more than 197 nations recognized by the United

Nations, this book explores discovery mechanisms in 26

nations that are ostensibly of most litigious concern to U.S.

litigators. After a two-page introduction by the editors on

the raison d’etre for the book—explaining how to obtain dis-

covery under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and The

Hague Evidence Convention—the reader is thrust into the

legal mechanics of how to obtain documentary and witness

evidence in nations from Argentina to Venezuela.

Though the editors do not explain why they chose the

26 nations identied in the book, the reader could, perhaps

accurately, surmise that the countries identied are those that

are more often the venue for U.S. business interests relative

to other nations. Such conjecture is further reinforced by the

fact all three editors are practicing lawyers with active cross-

border practices. Moreover, all 26 nations include countries

from all continents, including emerging economies like India,

Brazil, and Hong Kong, and developed economies, including

Germany, France, and the United States.

Deftly Organized

Each chapter is written and organized by legal professionals

familiar with that specic nation’s process for obtaining dis-

covery. Almost all chapters have an introductory section that

explains the legal system in that country and states whether

analogous U.S. discovery tools may be used in that nation.

The availability of familiar discovery tools used in U.S. courts,

such as interrogatories, depositions, and protective orders, is

considered and meaningful context is provided to U.S. litiga-

tors to better appreciate the nuances involved in procuring

discovery in foreign countries.

Most of those familiar discovery tools are surprisingly

present in one form or another in the 25 nations outside of

the U.S. that are examined in this book. The applicability

of the 1970 Hague Convention or other multilateral legal

framework in each country is explored in every chapter. To

the extent alternative dispute resolution mechanisms exist in

A Tool to Facilitate Access to

Discovery Across the Globe

Discovery Across the Globe is available at http://bit.ly/LN474-discovery.

a foreign nation, it

is considered and

presented. Each

chapter ends in a

synopsis section

entitled “Discovery

Procedures in . . .”

that summarizes key

discovery items dis-

cussed in the prior

pages, making this

volume even more

accessible than it

already is.

Where Future

Editions May

Benef‌it

This book succeeds

in providing guid-

ance to cross-border

litigators on dis-

covery mechanisms

in 25 nations outside the United States. Future editions may

want to explore discovery in nations outside of those already

explored in past volumes. In addition, the editors may want to

consider providing more details in future volumes as to why

the nations chosen were selected as nations where cross-bor-

der litigation tools may be helpful.

Some fastidious readers may think the absence of explana-

tion for the inclusion of specic nations (and, ergo, the exclu-

sion of others) in this volume may be a shortcoming rather

than a tendentious, economical, approach to organizing a ref-

erence book. Future volumes may also limit content to specic

continents or nations where cross-border litigation is particu-

larly difcult to navigate. Noticeably absent from this volume

is discovery detail on the Caribbean and Africa—only Puerto

Rico and Nigeria are discussed in this volume. Nonetheless,

this volume is particularly useful for those litigators interested

in how to conduct discovery and obtain evidence from all G-8

nations, some Asia Pacic (APAC) nations, some nations that

comprise Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), and some

Latin American nations.

By Kelso L. Anderso n, Litigation News Associate Editor

30 | LITIGATION SECTI ON

Published in Litigation News Volume 47, Number 4, Summer 2022. © 2022 b y the American Bar Ass ociation. Reproduc ed with permission. A ll rights reserv ed. This information or an y portion there of may not be copied or dis seminated in any

form or by any means or sto red in an electronic da tabase or retrieval sy stem without the ex press writt en consent of the Amer ican Bar Associatio n.